Let’s Be Honest

When is the last time someone asked you how you were doing? I’ll wager it wasn’t that long ago. Most of us have friends, family members, coworkers, and even acquaintances who’ll ask that question often. The harder question might be… when was the last time you responded honestly?

After a late-night chat with an old friend, I posed this question on my personal Facebook page… When was the last time you honestly told someone how you are doing?

I had asked my friend how she was doing. Not much uncommon in that. Most of us ask the question often, offhandedly with good intent but don’t typically get more than a canned response to it. This time though the answer was rare, raw and honest. She let the flood gates open, pouring out the truth of how she really was doing.

It hurt to hear. But, her honesty allowed me to be there when she’d been alone and in crisis for months. Even now I think of that conversation and wonder how long it had been since she let go, let herself be truly honest.

So, I pose the same question to you – dear reader. When was the last time you answered this question honestly or were there to hear someone when they did?

This world is a place of great gifts, of wonder and joy. It will also push us to our limits, even break us. But, if we allow, it can also open the doors to our shared humanity. How do we tap into that?

Be open. Be willing to speak your truth and listen to the longing for connection in others. We have all been given a spark of empathy and a boundless capacity to care for one another.

The point to this post? Ask the question and be there to hear the answer. Know that if you’re being asked how you’re doing, that person doing the asking cared enough to ask and values you enough to listen.